A gem of an evening
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Tulasi Vishwanath gave an impressive vocal recital in New Delhi the other day. VENKATESAN SRIKANTH
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Tulasi’s dexterity came to the fore right in the initial stages
It was a concert devoid of much publicity. Nevertheless, those who did turn up to hear it were a delighted lot. They got to hear some kritis rich in traditional musical values. In her spirited performance, fighting a losing battle against the hopeless microphone system, Tulasi Vishwanath from Rajamundhri, Andhra Pradesh, put up a very impressive show recently in a concert organised by the Ganesh Seva Samaj in East Delhi.
Tulasi’s dexterity in the field of Carnatic music came to the fore right in the initial stages of her concert. Her handling of Tyagaraja’s “Tulasi dalamulache” in the raga Mayamalavagowla was brilliant. Not only did she give utmost care to the sahitya contents of this kriti, she also handled creatively the niraval of a phrase from the charanam as well as the subsequent swaraprastharas. Dikshitar’s “Rajagopalam” in the raga Mohanam was marked by a fine alap of the raga in the beginning and some melodious swara formats towards the end. Yet another Dikshitar kriti, “Seshachala Nayakam Bajami” in raga Varali also underwent fine treatment. Earlier, Tulasi presented a scintillating alap of this raga, which had considerable depth. The subsequent niraval and swaraprastharas exhibited, yet again, her manordharma talents. The fast tempo song of Harikesanallur Muthiah Bhagavatar, “Durgadevi” in the raga Navarasakanada was impressive.
As her main item, Tulasi presented Tyagaraja’s “Koluvamare gada” in the raga Todi. Her mother tongue being Telugu, she had a distinct advantage in bringing the sahitya bhava of this kriti to the fore. In addition, the subsequent niraval of the phrase “Veguvajhamuna velayuchu thambura jekoni gunamula jeluvontha padusu” and the swaraprastaras were creatively handled. K.L.N. Sastri on the violin and P. Jayabhaskar (Tulasi’s brother) on the mridangam provided understanding and excellent support to Tulasi. While Sastri’s delineation of the ragas Mohanam and Todi was melodious, Jayabhaskar’s tani avartanam in Adi tala was delightful. On the whole, a spirited performance of high quality.
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